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First Christmas Disaster part 4

Sasuke had finally put the last of his Christmas presents under the tree in the Hall. It was hard work carrying them all. He had several presents for his team-mates and a few more for Naruto and then he had two for each of his friends. He had the most money out of everyone so it was understandable how much he could spend on everyone. Sakura was there, directing the girls and some of the guys in to putting up decorations. Ino and Shikamaru looked kind of worried; Sasuke thought back to the conversation he had with them when he came in.

"Hey is Naruto alright Sasuke?" Ino asked.

"Well, he came through my window last night, the building manager wouldn't let him through the door and it was pouring with rain. I think he might have a cold but otherwise he's alright, why?"

"Well Ino thought she saw him in the street. He was apparently on his knees and trying to breathe. He also had some red stuff on his hand".

"Red stuff?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah, we went over to where he was supposedly and there was a small pool of blood there", Shikamaru continued.

"Oh, well he got some scratches yesterday on his arm, it was probably them bleeding", Sasuke replied, not totally believing what was coming out of his mouth.

The couple exchanged looks but nodded to Sasuke and then walked off.

Sasuke noted the time and decided he would head back, not before being ambushed by Sakura.

"Hey, what do you think of the decorations?"

"Nice, well I have to go and look for Naruto".

"Why he was here earlier when he dropped off his presents for everyone. Come to think of it, he looked kind of pale and he kept coughing. He might have caught something being out in the rain".

"Did Naruto tell you about coming through my window instead of the door?"

"Yeah, apparently the door was locked so he went through your window, something wrong?" Sakura noticed a slight glare in the Uchiha's eyes.

"No, I just want to go and find him, I haven't seen him all day and if he's ill then I want to go and take care of him".

"This is your first Christmas together is it not?"

"Yeah, I want it to be nice".

"Your so kind Sasuke-kun", she replied sweetly before waving to him and going back to fixing the decorations.

Sasuke walked through the streets and saw lots of happy couples buying presents last minute. It made him more determined to find Naruto.

It was a short while but Sasuke saw him and he was with Iruka-sensei. He did notice he looked paler but he was talking serious with Iruka. He couldn't hear but he was not going to impose. Naruto and Iruka-sensei had a special relationship, almost like a father-son bond. He would wait for him to visit later. Sasuke turned and walked away at the exact point when Naruto collapsed on all fours.

"I…I…can't brea…breathe!" he gasped.

Iruka bent down and picked Naruto up. He carried him off to go and find Tsunade.

Tsunade was in her office when Shizune burst in.

"What? I'm trying to work!"

"Naruto's sick. Iruka came in carrying him, he can't breathe and he's coughing up blood. He wants to see you now!"

Tsunade got up and hurriedly walked to see Iruka holding Naruto, there was a lot of blood on Naruto's clothes and a bit over Iruka as well.

"Tsunade-sama", Iruka said.

"Bring him over here". She pointed to the nearest empty room and Iruka laid him down on the bed.

"Where's he bleeding?" she indicated all the blood.

"Oh he threw it up and he just didn't stop coughing".

"All of this?" it looked more like a severe wound than an illness. Iruka nodded.

"Crap, we need to give him some blood or something. Why didn't he come sooner?"

"He tried going to so many doctors across the place but was refused by each one. He didn't want to come here in case he worried people".

"Well people are going to get more worried now, he could die!"

Tsunade closed her eyes and started using her chakra to see if she could find the cause of Naruto's illness; looking through all his organs and blood and chakra lines. She couldn't see anything wrong with his body – he was perfectly healthy.

"That's impossible. I can't see anything wrong with him", Tsunade said. Iruka looked stunned and Shizune started giving Naruto some more blood.

"It must be something to do with this then", Tsunade whispered. She cut Naruto's top and checked the seal on his stomach. It had changed colour to a mix of reds and crimsons.

"What? The fox is sick in turn causing Naruto to be sick", she said to herself, "How do I cure the fox? That could cause his release if I do it wrong".

"What?!" Iruka said.

"We have a dilemma here. This is a disaster!" Shizune said.

"I need Kakashi, no Jiraiya. He would know".

"Jiraiya would know what?"

"Go and find him Iruka. He came back to the village yesterday so can you go and find him for me. He has some answers", Tsunade said.

"How would Jiraiya know something medical related that you don't?"

"Just go and find him!" Tsunade snapped. She looked to Naruto; he looked very pale and there was blood trickling from his mouth. He was unconscious so he couldn't feel anything. He looked so helpless compared to the loud-mouthed brat full of energy that he usually was.

Iruka ran out of the room to go and find Jiraiya.

"Why did you send him away? You knew I was right here?" Jiraiya came in through the window, his shoes clapped noisily on the floor. There was smile on his face and he looked at Naruto; a sad look in his eyes.

"He's going to die isn't he unless we release the fox?" He turned to Tsunade.

"There is a way but it all depends on Naruto. How far along is he with his and the fox's chakra merging?" she asked him, her eyes narrowing.

"Well he can get up to three tails. He'll progress to the fourth soon".

"Then we do have some hope. He needs to defeat the illness himself. I guess he is doing something inside of his mind, he won't wake up". Tsunade looked at Naruto. He looked kind of peaceful.

"Hey Jiraiya remember don't tell anyone that the fox might be causing this; enough people want him dead enough as it is, no one would treat him when he walked around the doctors earlier according to Iruka". Tsunade looked almost sad as well.

"Sure, I know, I better go and find some of his friends. Sakura might be able to help".

"Well, I'll make sure people keep watch on him. Hopefully it won't be too late. I better go and get some work done", Tsunade said, walking out of the room, knowing that she wouldn't be able to get anything done until Naruto was better again.

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